


Five Times A Baby Almost Ruined Christmas (And One Time She Saved It)

by Potkanka



Series: Christmas at Lara's [3]
Category: Tomb Raider (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Christmas, F/M, Fluff, Lara and Kurtis have a baby, five-plus-one fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:35:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21943015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Potkanka/pseuds/Potkanka
Summary: For the third year in a row, Lara invites some friends and acquaintances to celebrate Christmas in her mansion. But this time it won't be only adults, but also Lara and Kurtis's four month old daughter Rosa.Mostly fluff, but leave it tocertaincharacters to bring in some angst too.
Relationships: Lara Croft/Kurtis Trent
Series: Christmas at Lara's [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1465582
Kudos: 10





	1. First Time

**Author's Note:**

> Despite my plans to start working on this fic early, it's Christmas Eve and I'm not done, so I'll post it as separate chapters over the next few days. That way, at least a part of this fic is actually uploaded on Christmas :)
> 
> You don't necessarily need to read the previous two years to understand this one (I think, as I've not yet written it all...), but I suppose it might make some things mentioned here clearer if you do.

Zip made short work of his own security system to sneak into Lara's garden, once again glad that Lara didn't follow the footsteps of monarchs long past who had had their architects and builders killed to protect the security of their palaces and tombs.

Which Lara had told him about. In a lot of detail.

Now, Zip didn't think it had been an actual threat from her in case he decided to betray her trust, it had all rung of a simple fascination of the past. Probably. Anyway, it felt very typical of Lara. That still didn't mean Zip didn't have the stories of ancient workers buried alive seared into his mind forever.

He made another slow, laborious step towards the front road. Then another step. Honestly, the only thing he was worried to be buried in right now was the piles and piles of snow. The cold white annoyance reached almost to his waist, soft and fluffy but with a hard crust on the top – the thin sheet of ice that had been created by melting and refreezing.

Finally he reached the driveway, cleared of all but the very smallest layer of snow, the dark gravel visible and crunching under his feet.

“Maybe you should have used the gate this time,” Lara's voice called to him, amused, from the roof.

“Yeah, too late!” Zip called up, bowed over to brush off his legs. As soon as he straightened, a snowball hit him in the face.

“Welcome to the purgatory,” his assailant announced gravely.

Zip sputtered, trying to get the rapidly melting snow off before it trickled down his neck, and glared at Kurtis.

The demon hunter, warrior monk, current leader of a secret order tasked to protect the world from evil, grinned at him tiredly, with dark bags under his eyes, and gave a lazy two-fingered salute.

Zip's glare softened only very little. “You look like shit,” he stated.

“Thanks, I know,” Kurtis yawned. “Gotta make others at least a little miserable to make myself feel better.”

“Oh please,” Lara called from above, the roll of her eyes clear from her voice.

“I slept like four hours today,” Kurtis shouted at her, “and that's the record for the past week.”

“And you think _I_ slept soundly?” Lara's tone grew irritated. “I was awake as much as you, if not more.”

“Yeah well so what? You tired doesn't make me suddenly feel less tired,” Kurtis threw up his hands.

“Uhhh, okay...” Zip started backing carefully towards the front door. Sleep deprived, irritated and almost at each other's throats… yeah he really didn't need to be caught in the crossfire.

The door opened when he was still a few paces away, and another person stepped out. Or two, technically.

Marie walked out in warm clothes, a small bundle in even warmer clothes, so many layers it almost looked like nothing _but_ clothes, in her arms.

“Hello, Zip,” Marie greeted him, “I heard shouting.”

“Hey, Marie! Yeah, it's those two,” Zip threw his head towards Kurtis and Lara. “Aaaand hey Rosie!” he moved closer, looking at the bundle which – or who – Marie turned around to face him.

“Aww you've grown up so much since last time!” he cooed, leaning forward a bit to be face to face with, well, face was the only part of the baby that was visible anyway.

The tiny girl warbled at him and then smiled her toothless smile with a deceptively loud squeal. Marie offered to hand her over by raising her slightly towards Zip, but he took a wary step back. “Uh I don't think I trust myself with her.”

The squeal apparently attracted the girl's parents' attention though, as Kurtis was suddenly right there, his smile still tired but proud anyway as he looked at his daughter. “She's so cute, right?”

“That tiny bit I can see, yeah,” Zip grinned. “And loud.”

“Ugh,” Kurtis threw his head back. “You've heard nothing yet.”

“Don't be so dramatic,” Lara joined them at the front door. One glance at her told Zip that she had the same tired face, the same dark bags under her eyes as Kurtis. Somehow, telling _her_ that she looked like shit didn't sound like a good idea.

“So she's what, four months now?” Zip asked instead.

“And a half or so,” Lara nodded.

“You count the weeks?” Zip eyed her.

“Do I?” Lara huffed. “Vaguely. I don't even know when the day starts and ends. _Supposedly_ when the sun rises and sets...”

“Now look who's too dramatic,” Kurtis needled at her. Lara's gaze, probably intended to be only irritated, looked murderous in her sleep-deprived state, and Kurtis switched topics quickly. “So, all the lights are up?”

“Of course they are,” Lara sniffed at his doubts.

“You know, I though I'd come early for once to check the circuitry before you set it all up, but you got to it early too...” Zip commented, looking up at the eaves, adorned with – for now, and hopefully not for long – unlit Christmas lights.

“We wanted to be sure to get it done in time for Christmas, what with the all of...” Kurtis gestured vaguely towards Marie – or, more possibly, the baby in her arms.

“That bad, huh?” Zip asked, though he didn't doubt the authenticity of their exhaustion. “Why doesn't someone else take care of her sometimes? I mean, from what I got, Marie's been here like, almost all the time since the pipsqueak was born. And Winston… or I guess you could let him sleep… Uh, Morgau? Isn't she here sometimes too?”

“Yes,” Lara sighed, “though I do hold a certain appeal to Rosa that no-one else does. And anyone but me and Kurtis seem to be wholly unacceptable to her to see during the night.”

“Wow, the joys of parenthood,” Zip laughed. “Regretting it yet?”

“Never,” Kurtis replied immediately and snatched Rosie from her grandmother's arms, cuddling her to his chest. She let out another loud squeal and Kurtis cringed, but didn't stop smiling.

“And he was the one who protested so much at first,” Marie turned to Zip.

“Because,” Kurtis said long-sufferingly, “I was told to deal with it instead of being a part of the planning process, and everyone here knows it.”

“You had to be part of _some_ of the process-” Zip started, unable to help himself, but shut his mouth at Kurtis' glare.

Then he got pelted by snow from Lara's direction. “Let's turn on the lights,” she said and walked over to the switch. Everyone watched her with anticipation, including Rosa, though for her that might've been just the movement that got her interested. Lara flipped the switch. There was a tense moment, but then gradually, blinking and brightening, the lights came on.

The relief was palpable, Kurtis whooped, Zip mumbled a “whoa, for sure” and Rosa squealed in delight at the view. She waved her whole arms excitedly, almost hitting Kurtis in the face.

“Pretty, huh?” he asked her, amused.

Rosa warbled, then turned her head away, reaching elsewhere with one hand. Kurtis followed her sight. She was trying to reach the switch. “Oooh, clever one!”

“Maybe she'll be into tech!” Zip thought, grinning at her.

“I think we still have a few years to start wondering about that,” Lara shook her head, but she was also smiling at Rosa's attempts, still trying to get her hands on the switch. As Kurtis didn't carry her any closer, she was starting to become agitated and her wordless speech a little sharper.

“Now now, Rosie, you can't play with that,” Kurtis rocked her a bit, but she didn't care, all her attention on the switch.

“Maybe we can let her turn it off and on once?” Kurtis sighed.

“You can't say yes to her just because she's throwing a little tantrum,” Lara crossed her arms. “I thought all those parenting books told you that.”

“Oooh, you read them?” Zip asked over the noises getting louder and louder.

“No, I just assume it's common sense not to give in to that,” Lara raised an eyebrow. Zip shrugged at it in agreement.

“Fine,” Kurtis rolled his eyes. Let's get her somewhere where she can't see it then, so-”

The switch flipped. The lights went out. Rosa squealed in delight. The switch flipped back on. Then off. On.

No-one was touching the switch.

But Rosa still had her arms extended towards it.

“Rosie,” Kurtis said very slowly, part worried, part surprised and a tiny little but unmistakeable part delighted.

“Did-did she just...” Zip stuttered. “She can already...”

“That hasn't happened before,” Lara said, almost dazed. “Do the children start so early?” she asked Kurtis, then realized her mistake and turned her attention to Marie.

“It's… possible,” Marie shrugged. “I think some babies might have. Kurtis was almost a year old before any of his powers manifested.”

“So that's why you've told me I don't need to worry about that yet,” Lara said drily, addressing some discussion Zip hadn't been a part of. Of course they'd talk about this thing before. And of course a kid with parents like these two lunatics would be… what would that be? Magically precocious?

Rosa was still flipping the switch, laughing and staring in turns.

“Alright, Rosie, this is pretty amazing-”

“And pretty worrying,” Lara interrupted Kurtis.

“-that too,” he agreed, “but let's just...” he walked further away from the switch, “stop this, okay?”

Rosie gave another indistinct yelp, waved her hands around, but didn't seem to be able to control the switch anymore. Another of her squeals was definitely unhappy.

“Come on, Rosie,” Kurtis rocked her, “you can play with something else.” He turned to his mother. “So do we just start teaching her when she can do this? I don't think she'll understand.”

“At this age?” Marie mused. “The best way is to give her a safe way to tire herself out. She can't have much psychic energy yet.”

“Should I just let her keep flipping the switch then?” Kurtis pouted in thought and made a step closer to it again.

Rosie squealed louder, swung her arms around and tore the switch out from the wall.

The lights went out.

Everyone stared at the ruined piece of metal and plastic on the ground in sudden silence.

Then Rosa started sniffling and crying.

“Hey, anyone gonna mind if I join her?” Zip asked weakly.

Lara snorted, half in amusement half in something that would have been best described as I-give-up-and-don't-care-anymore-also-Christmas-is-cancelled – or at least that's what Zip imagined was running through her head judged by her expression – and walked into the house.

“You can fix it, right?” Kurtis asked Zip. “Uh, please?”

“Hey, what would Christmas be without something getting fu-uh-fricked up, right?”

“Thank you,” Marie briefly put a hand on his shoulder. Then the three generations of a family with weird-ass switch-destroying powers left and Zip sighed at the job in front of him.


	2. Second Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morgau arrives. Unsurprisingly, there's angst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't want Morgau to come at the end like last year, so that we can get the inevitable angst over with a bit sooner (and so she can just chill around later, hopefully), but it kind of ran away from me so it took a while. And it should actually be so much longer, I still feel like I "dealt" with her problem too quickly, but I would need a whole fic just for that, not just one chapter of a fic that's supposed to be Christmas-themed, not angst filled.

Morgau neared the gate of the vast estate, as she had done many times in the past year. The snow, thick and clinging to her boots, and the colourful blinking lights hanged along the roof, were a reminder that it really had only been a year since she had first visited. That invitation to spend Christmas holidays with Lara, Kurtis and their friends had been… more than surprising. And had almost ended in a disaster thanks to her, and not just because she nearly demolished the library in her fit of anger. It had all been rather emotionally taxing – and ended up with Kurtis getting hypothermia.

She looked up and down the wrought-iron gate, debated ringing the bell, then decided not to inconvenience others by making them come out into the cold and jumped right over the obstacle. She could be considerate, after all.

As they had been. Yes, for all of the mess she had caused a year ago, she had been ultimately welcomed by them all, and Kurtis agreed that their sessions could take place here in this house from then on. That, more than anything, had showed Kurtis truly meant it, what with his fretting over his newly pregnant lover.

Morgau smiled fondly, making her way towards the front door. She truly was welcome, for some unfathomable reason. She had a place where people were glad to see her – not just accepted her presence due to a fear of asking her to leave, as had been the case only too many times before.

Her thoughts wandered to her father and a whole host of emotions assaulted her at that memory. It had only been a few years since Eckhardt had murdered him. Her father… he had loved her, but hadn't known how to show it, he'd been erratic and too serious to show affection. He'd wanted her to be prepared for everything and so trained her in any way he could, rather than realizing she'd been a child who needed parental affection.

Morgau herself would never really know what she had been missing, other than she had missed it, if not for the people in this house.

She rang the bell.

Lara, well, Lara was never much for showing positive emotions of the more intimate kind, and Kurtis was awkward in a way that manifested itself as sometimes treating her as an adult and sometimes as a little kid, sometimes as an assassin that had almost killed him multiple times and sometimes as a tortured girl with piecemeal knowledge of her powers. Some of these were true, maybe – the killing him part for sure – but none of these were exactly what was enough by itself.

It was with Lara, Kurtis, Marie, Winston and others if they happened to be around, that the whole place felt like-

The door opened and there stood Winston. “Miss Morgau, welcome. We've all been waiting for you.” He stepped aside to let her in. “How was your journey?”

“Uneventful,” Morgau said, content, and entered the house. “Thank you. How had things been here?” Simple politeness. Something she also hadn't had much use for most of her life.

“Good, good,” Winston nodded, closing the door.

“Really?” Morgau smirked. Empty polite phrases were a little too boring still.

When Winston turned back to her, there was a wry smile playing on his lips. “As good as we can hope for. Lara and Kurtis are bravely and sleeplessly tackling the challenge of parenting.”

“So about the same as when I've been here… three weeks ago?” She wasn't sure about the exact date, but that was her best guess.

“Ah, there was some new development just two days ago,” Winston gestured her towards the kitchen. “I have just put on some water, would you like some tea?”

Not really, but refusing tea from Winston was an offence that only Lara could get away with, so Morgau nodded. Politeness, it was all politeness. Something expected in this house unless situation proved otherwise. At least Winston's tea tasted really good, even if Morgau wasn't a tea person.

“What development?” she asked as they entered the kitchen.

“I wasn't there to see it for the first time,” Winston started, reaching into the cupboard, “but it has happened a few times since, so I assume it wasn't simply an early… accident. Marie surely doesn't seem to think so.”

Happened? Accident? And Marie's opinions on it? Then it was something about Rosa, not Lara and Kurtis finally agreeing on who's turn it was to change the diapers every time it was needed. “So what is it?” Morgau leaned her elbows on the table she was sitting at.

“I cannot say I know precisely how 'it' is called,” Winston admitted and set the steaming cup in front of her. How was he so quick? Morgau hadn't even noticed the water finishing to boil. As if he had already been expecting her and had the tea ready…

Ah damn, had she overlooked some new perimeter sensors?! Again? Well, if Winston wished to challenge her like that, she wouldn't lose. She would go out later and find it so she knew how to avoid it in the future.

Judging by Winston's little smile, he knew precisely what she was thinking about. She narrowed her eyes at him and his smile grew just a little bit wider, so that Morgau's own frown twisted into something more amused and she rolled her eyes. “So what is that thing, however it's called?”

“Little Rosie is able to move things with her mind now,” Winston sat slowly in his chair.

Morgau blinked, her smile frozen. “She… she what? She can use telekinesis? But...” Morgau stared at the table dazedly, “she's only just been born?!”

“She is four months old,” Winston informed her calmly. How was he so calm? Was that… normal? She didn't think it should be happening, but what experience did she have? She had been able to manifest her psychic powers since she could remember, so it was clearly from an early age but… _that_ early of an age?

“And Marie considers it normal?” Morgau asked.

“Not very common,” Winston shrugged, “but not so strange to cause worries, it seems. Well, apart from the worries of what Rosie might do with such powers.”

“Yes,” Morgau breathed out slowly. “I suppose that could be a problem. Did anything already happen?”

“The Christmas lights suffered some damage...”

They seemed fine when Morgau had seen them some minutes ago. She sipped at her tea. “Zip's already here?”

“Luckily so,” Winston said in clear relief. “He has been a witness to the event. Rosie has flipped the switch several times and finally tore it out of the wall.”

“Wow,” Morgau raised her eyebrows.

“I think they are in the playroom right now, if you wish to announce your arrival,” Winston offered.

Morgau gulped down the rest of her tea. “Sure,” she stood up. “Thanks for the tea,” she remembered to add. With that she hurried out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

That sounded like a lot of additional work, having such a tiny baby already using Lux Veritatis powers. She was a little worried about Lara and Kurtis's sleep deprived states, but they could handle it. She was also curious. And a little excited? She had never lived in the Order, she had never been around other members apart from her father – excommunicated as he was – Konstantin and Kurtis.

Now there was a new one. She'd known before, sure, but now, with her powers manifesting, it was finally clicking for Morgau that this truly was a new member of the nearly extinct Order, one with the same powers as her, one of the _very few_ people in the world like her.

She felt a surge of companionship towards the tiny baby and felt her mouth pull into a wide smile. She would never have admitted to anyone her longing to belong somewhere, to not always be the weirdo, the odd one out, even if someone might've suspected her wishes… She hardly ever admitted it to herself, it was a useless thought after all.

But now, more and more, she was starting to feel like she could really belong somewhere. She was welcome here, yes, but this felt like something… more.

Morgau walked down the hallway hurriedly. The doors to the playroom were cracked open, so she pushed it just a bit so it noiselessly swung wider. Then she got a look at the scene inside.

On a large colourful blanket, there sat Kurtis, Lara and Marie, all turned towards the little baby who was sitting but surrounded by a few pillows. Rosa had a rather intense frown, waving her arms excitedly, and a plush toy was floating in front of her with strange erratic jumps approximately mirroring the arm movements.

“Good work, Rosie,” Kurtis cooed when the toy fell onto the ground and the baby looked at it if as something had just died, but then turned towards her father's voice and squealed, leaned forward and flopped slowly on her stomach.

“Yes, very good work,” Lara said and as Rosa switched her attention to her mother, Lara pulled her to her arms.

“You are going to have so much trouble with her once she doesn't tire as quickly,” Marie chuckled and reached for the toy. Rosa, who had once again looked towards the person speaking, reached for the toy immediately, but it only twitched a little bit, lying on Marie's palm. The older woman gave her a fond smile and handed the toy over.

“How do you know we won't leave the trouble to the much more experienced grandma?” Kurtis smirked and grabbed another plush toy, one of the many lying around, and set it on Marie's head.

“Why, grandmas are to spoil their grandchildren,” Marie took it before it fell and waved it in Rosa's reach, who immediately grabbed the second toy, “not raise them and so deprive the parents of all the fun.”

Morgau took a step back, suddenly feeling cold and… lonely. Why was she feeling lonely? That feeling of lead in her stomach, the emptiness as if surrounding her even though she was here in a place with people who willingly invited her in again and again.

But they just invited her. As a guest. She wasn't really… she wasn't really _one_ of them, was she? All that was left of the Lux Veritatis was her and then three generations of one family she could see in front of her eyes. It was quite clear who didn't actually belong. She hadn't ever been a proper member of the Order either, just a girl with blood in her veins that _used_ to belong there in previous generations.

There wasn't really Lux Veritatis anymore. Just this family. And she wasn't a part of it. She took another step back, unable to keep watching, to look from the outside in.

She had been invited for Christmas, a traditionally _family_ holiday. Clearly they hadn't thought this through when they had extended this invitation.

The reason they had allowed her to be around at all was because Kurtis was teaching her how to properly control her powers, with all the ways and tools that her father hadn't had the access to.

Step back.

Kurtis was also teaching her about the Order's history, along with Marie. But they had someone more important to teach now, his daughter, her granddaughter.

Step back.

Morgau wasn't so unstable anymore that she would become volatile and dangerous to her surroundings if the training stopped. She had known it would all end eventually, she just hadn't expected it to happen quite so soon.

Step back. Her back hit the wall.

The tiny baby was a clear sign of what she hadn't wanted to see – that not only was her training not necessary anymore, it was actively preventing her teacher to focus on more important, more dearly held things.

Morgau turned on her heel and started walking away, fast but not running, just on and on and on, a lump growing in her throat. That was ridiculous! She hadn't cried since she had been a very small girl and she wasn't about to start now. Maybe this cushy, safe life made her soft, made her expect things that could never be true. Worse, made her _want_ things that could never be true.

“Oh, good afternoon, Morgau, I wasn't aware you have already arrived,” a voice floated to her ears, that a subconscious part of her mind identified as Jean-Yves', “I only just arrived yesterday and...” Morgau couldn't hear anymore, that far she had gotten with her quick pace, and the man clearly wasn't following her. She hadn't really processed the contents of his words, too busy with her own thoughts swirling in her head.

She was walking across the main hall towards the front door when someone dropped a few metres in front of her. Culcrys was in her hands before she could think, but then she recognized Kurtis and stopped herself from an attempt to stab him with the spear.

“Hello to you too,” Kurtis said with a smirk, then looked her over warily. His hands were loosely at his sides – close to his weapons. “You okay? Jean-Yves told me you seemed in a bad mood.” His face turned thoughtful. “Or something. He wasn't really sure. But-” he gestured towards her, “it sure looks like something's wrong.”

Kurtis had been trying to address her emotional states better this past year, and Morgau mostly appreciated it, even if it could sometimes – frequently – annoy her.

“Nothing's wrong,” she said only. It was the truth, nothing _was_ wrong. She hadn't lost control and slipped into a fit of rage, she hadn't done that in _months_. She kept her emotions in check even though something she had just seen had upset her. Yes, she could even admit it to herself that she was upset. Great progress with her emotional health on all fronts, she would say.

“Yeah right,” Kurtis rolled his eyes, shifted his weight on one foot and folded his arms. A relaxed pose, so at the very least he believed her that she wasn't volatile. Morgau put away Culcrys in return. Holding it in her hands wouldn't help her convince him and she truly wasn't planning on using it at all. It had just been an instinct born of a dangerous life.

So different from the idyllic picture she had seen upstairs.

“You sneaked up on me,” she gestured to the now sheathed Culcrys.

“And you were so out of it you didn't notice me? I called you from upstairs before I jumped down.”

He did? Damn.

That thought must've shown on her face because he raised an eyebrow. “So deep in your thoughts, huh? Is that somehow related to you storming out right after you arrived, without even saying hi?”

“I wasn't… storming out,” Morgau crossed her arms in a mirror image to him. “I was just leaving.”

“ _Right after_ you arrived,” Kurtis repeated.

“I had some tea,” she countered stubbornly. What was she even trying to accomplish with these excuses? If she were to show some emotional maturity, as Kurtis was trying and as he was hoping for her to try, she should acknowledge what he was really asking about. But she really, really didn't feel like it.

“Well I'm glad you didn't make Winston sad,” Kurtis said half-jokingly, but then grew serious again. “But what is it with ignoring the rest of us?”

More like giving them space. If he hadn't stopped her, she would be already gone and he could be playing with his daughter undisturbed. Morgau pursed her lips. “Okay. Hi. And say hi to the rest from me too.”

Both Kurtis' eyebrows were up now, but just as fast they dropped into a concerned frown. “Did something happen somewhere? I know you can handle yourself, but if you want back-up, I can help.”

Morgau blinked, taken aback. Kurtis thought she came across some trouble? And that was why she was leaving so fast?

“Look, I know something's going on, it's kinda,” Kurtis made a vague gesture, “swirling around you, and if you can't easily put a lid on it, it's probably serious. So if there's anything I can-”

“No there's not,” Morgau interrupted him hastily. She couldn't keep listening to this, was he serious? “And even if there was, how could I ever accept any help from _you_?” she felt the need to add. “I'm just leaving, that's all. Merry Christmas.” She mumbled the last words and walked around him, making a beeline for the door.

“Wait what?” Kurtis almost yelped. “ _Nothing_ 's happening, but you won't be here for Christmas? And what the hell was it about not accepting help from me?!” he asked more sharply, and unlike Jean-Yves he was following her as he talked. “Did I do something?”

There was a twinge in Morgau's chest at these words, he sounded hurt. She stopped, a step away the door, and clarified without turning around. “That's not what I meant. You have a family now, why would you risk yourself for someone like me?” She reached out, but as she started opening the door, Kurtis palm slammed it shut and he frowned down at her.

“Someone like you? What does that mean? What's- damn, Morgau, just be straight with me, what's going on here?” There was a mix of frustration, pleading and annoyance in both his face and voice.

Morgau's mouth pulled down into a frown. She thought she had been pretty clear just now.

Kurtis took a deep breath and his expression smoothed out to a certain degree. “Okay, no, we're not doing this here. We're going to,” he grimaced, “talk it out. Calmly. Sitting down. Not with you one foot out of the door.”

“I didn't manage even that one foot,” Morgau accused him, rather childishly. Talking things out. She hated it. He hated it. But it was… not useless, in the long run. At least, if he understood her reasons, this could be the last time they were _talking things out_. Small mercies.

They moved in unison towards a small sitting room, a place they had used for such an unfortunate occasion a few times before, and sooner than she hoped for they were seated on those plush comfortable chairs that brought back memories of a rather impressive kaleidoscope of emotions. They sat in silence for a few minutes, but only a few, because neither wanted to drag it out too much.

“Okay,” Kurtis said over the quiet crackling of the lit fireplace, “what's going on? What are you… feeling?” He bit his lip, appearing to contemplate adding something else, so Morgau waited, glad for not being expected to answer just yet. “Jean-Yves said...” now Kurtis' expression grew incredulous. Oh, Morgau wasn't going to like this. “he said you looked like you were about to… cry?” Kurtis said the last word with such disbelief, he might as well have been talking about the sighting of unicorns. Wait, no, with all that existed in the world, that wouldn't be half as hard for him to accept. He might have even seen some unicorns already, for all Morgau knew.

But she definitely knew that she was deflecting in her own mind, to avoid reacting to what Kurtis had actually said.

She maybe, a tiny little bit, had felt like… tearing up slightly, back there. She hadn't expected it to show on her face though.

She stared out of the window, not meeting Kurtis' eyes. She would have to answer, but there were few things she would hate to do more at this moment.

Yes, they both hated this. They didn't want to keep this up any longer than was needed. Why couldn't she just get it over with? It's not like almost crying was the worst Kurtis had known her to do. It was definitely… the most embarrassing thing yet, though. She hated appearing weak, for most of her life something that would have been suicidal.

But was it still? She really had become soft. Was it okay to be? Life was far from as dangerous as it had used to be some years ago. _They had won the Shadow War._ And Morgau still used her free time – and wasn't most of her time free time these days? – to clean up some remaining messes, destroy all that was left of the Cabal with extreme prejudice, were that hideouts, records or surviving supporters. Along with that, to recover anything Lux Veritatis that had been stolen. It was cathartic. And mostly effortless. Accepting occasional dirty job from those who didn't ask questions and paid well kept her fed. And that was it. Easy life.

The most complicated part of her life was currently – this. Maybe her decision to leave would not only benefit Kurtis and his family, as they could focus all their attention at each other, but it would also help Morgau, as she could put all this emotional turmoil behind her. She and Kurtis had mostly dealt with her volatility, why add to it counter-productively by remaining here?

Really, that was the best for them all.

Now how to explain that concisely and without too much raw emotion to Kurtis? Who was still waiting patiently. Morgau wondered if these “sessions” were what had made him more patient. Good for him, she supposed.

Morgau bit her tongue, not enough to hurt, just a little nervous gesture she suspected Kurtis had noticed, because he shifted slightly. She sighed.

“I don't want to be in the way,” she blurted out.

“Huh?” Kurtis frowned. Morgau didn't feel like saying more. She'd said _something_. It was his turn now. “Wait,” Kurtis raised on finger, closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again. “Okay. You don't want to be in the way. Of something. Or someone. And you don't want to be here for Christmas? Do you think you're in our way of celebrating Christmas because of what happened last year? 'Cause I don't think anyone gives a damn. You know the rules, even if you break something here and there, it's okay if-”

“-if I clean it up after myself, I know,” Morgau finished for him. “That's not what I meant.” She slid down in the chair slightly, but stopped herself from folding her arms.

“Oookay,” Kurtis said again, drawing it out in thought. “You said I have a family and so I shouldn't… risk myself? What could be so dangerous? What's going on?”

“Ugh! Nothing's going on, I told you!” Morgau threw her hands up even as he slid further down, there was some creak but nothing in their view broke. She was half-lying in the chair by now. “I said that even if something was happening, _you_ shouldn't have to deal with that because of me. Because your family is what you should care about. Priorities, Kurtis!”

“Hey I can manage both!” Kurtis sounded offended.

“Whatever, there's nothing going on.” And if there was, she wouldn't tell him. She wouldn't knowingly put him in danger.

“Fine,” Kurtis waved his hand, though Morgau suspected he might want to address it later anyway. “So what about this not being here for Christmas thing? If it's not about potential property damage 'cause we both broke quite a few things around here over the year...”

“Yeah, it's not about breaking stuff.”

“So?”

Morgau glared. She didn't want to say it. She didn't want to make him realize what she'd realized, that she didn't fit anymore. If she ever had. But sitting here until he came to the conclusion himself would be unbearable. She pushed herself into a proper sitting position.

No useless emotions. Just facts. She could do it. She had faced mercenaries and monsters, she had survived unspeakable torture and terrible odds. This was nothing. She took a deep breath.

“It's just about your family because your family is Lux Veritatis and Christmas is a family holiday so you should focus on your family and you should teach your baby because that's your family and I don't need it anymore really and I'm not family so you should...” she spilled out, slowing down at the last few words, realizing what she'd said probably made no sense. She had a lot of experience giving mission reports, should she try phrasing it that way?

“I heard 'family' many times,” Kurtis said. He looked caught off guard, but continued speaking. “I should focus on my family? You think I couldn't if you were here?” Morgau was opening her mouth again, but Kurtis waved his hand. “So because we're family and Christmas is a family holiday, this should be a family gathering and you feel like you… don't… belong...” he trailed off. Morgau shrunk a bit in her chair. Whatever Kurtis was about to say, it would involve feelings.

“You think you don't belong because because of that? But you didn't have that problem last year!” Kurtis threw his arms out wide. Oh good, what he'd said hadn't even much to do with feelings, just confusion. Still, Morgau needed to explain further.

“You have a child now,” she sighed. “Your family is growing, a normal family as it should be. You don't need to invite strangers and pretend _that's_ normal. I wanted to leave-”

“What strangers?” Kurtis interrupted her. “We don't invite _strangers_. We invite friends… and Vlad. Not that we actually invite him, Father Patrick just kicks him our way...” Kurtis shook his head. “Anyway! We don't celebrate just as family and having a baby doesn't change that.”

“But...” Morgau shook her head wildly. “Yes other people are friends, but not me! I'm just the could-have-been Lux Veritatis if my father wasn't excommunicated, I'm the… the volatile element you needed to look after, but I have a good control over my powers now to not need more training and I'm the only one with Lux Veritatis blood who _isn't an actual part of your family_.” She closed her mouth with a snap. There. She'd said it.

“That's uhhh...” Kurtis said after a beat. “That's… important?”

What?

“Yes!” Morgau yelled.

“That out of me, Rosa, and you, you're not related to us?” Kurtis said tentatively.

“What about Lara and Marie? You all are a family.”

“Uh, yeah, but they don't have any Lux Veritatis blood. Not that it's really important, 'cause Winston has been Lara's family for decades and they don't share any blood relation either. And caring who has Lux Veritatis blood beyond what it can mean about our powers is kinda dumb.”

Morgau glared at him. Was he calling her dumb?

“Kurtis, don't call Morgau dumb,” Marie's voice came from the doorway. Both turned in that direction at once and there was Marie and Lara with Rosa in her arms.

“Maybe you forgot the close the door, we could hear you,” Marie explained.

Lara raised an eyebrow. “You were also really loud.”

Morgau contemplated just jumping out the window, she had no interest in wherever this would go. Their whole family ganging up on her. Couldn't they have let her leave when she'd been trying to?

“I agree that defining family by blood relation is dumb,” Lara stepped into the room. “But I also understand the definitions for family may vary wildly among different people and not all would share my opinion.”

Marie shook her head at the first part of what Lara had said, but then smiled fondly. “Us who are here definitely share that opinion. And you're welcome to share it too, Morgau.”

“You wouldn't… actually consider me your family...” Morgau mumbled. “We wouldn't even meet again after the War ended, if I didn't need the training Kurtis offered.”

“Why not?” Kurtis asked.

“We actually aren't just suffering your presence here,” Lara added, earning another look from Marie, who then added:

“The Lux Veritatis, when there were more people than you count on one hand, would often discourage too close relationship between members coming from different families, but sometimes even within the same family, due to the mortal danger everyone was in.” She shrugged. “Couldn't get too attached to someone who could just die the next day. There was no time for grief.” Then she also stepped closer, and walked on, towards Morgau. “What I mean to say is, the Order being almost non-existent as it is now, leaves us more freedom to act like a family among each other, among those who are blood-related as well as those who are not.”

Morgau couldn't even move from that chair. Were they really implying this? It couldn't be right, it sounded too good to be true, she couldn't just stay here under some assumptions, only to later see the truth was exactly as she thought. The family she had seen upstairs looked too perfect to be _diluted_ by anyone. She searched for another argument.

“The baby takes priority anyway, Kurtis won't have time to teach me with her here.”

“Oh yes, she needs so much training right now,” Lara turned Rosa around so Morgau could look at her. The baby cooed quietly. 

Morgau could help a little crooked smile at the tiny girl's wide eyes. Marie put one hand on Morgau's shoulder. When did she get so close? Morgau really was distracted today. “Even with not training, you would always be welcome here. Or, well,” Marie paused and Morgau could feel the stab of worry, despite what she had been claiming the whole time, “only if the Lady of the house says so.”

Lara walked over too and handed Rosa to Morgau, who stared at her a little apprehensively. “The Lady of the house agrees,” Lara informed them wryly.

“Nice,” Kurtis leaned back, as if he was resting after a long battle. “Are we clear then?” He said that towards Morgau and she moved her eyes among the four people, the four members of a family crowding her just as she had feared just a minute ago. It was still uncomfortable, but also… not bad. She didn't feel like running away, exactly.

She had to try, or maybe test the situation, one last time. “But you four, your family, wouldn't you prefer to be just that? The… the perfect, _normal_ -”

Lara burst out laughing.

“Perfect and normal?” Kurtis repeated, staring at her as if wondering when she'd hit her head. He was also close to laughing too. Marie seemed very amused and – Rosa squealed loudly in her arms, the toothless smile wide, probably because she'd seen the others laugh too.

Morgau stared at her, then thought over what she'd said. _Who_ she had said it about. She had been so focused on that one idyllic scene, it was as if she had forgotten who they were. “Probably not the best choice of words,” she admitted, the corner of her mouth twitching.

“If we look normal, and you think your inclusion would change it, it wouldn't be one reason less for you to be here,” Lara stated.

“You're no less welcome here just because we have Rosie,” Kurtis said, stood up and took the baby from her arms. “I can still teach you whatever you need or want, and we can deal with teaching Rosie together when she's a bit bigger,” he shrugged. “You'd be like the cool aunt.”

“That's one role none of my undercover operations prepared me for,” Morgau said in wonder and stood up too. An aunt? That… sounded nice. Wait. “Teach her? With you? You would trust me with her?”

“Yeah?” Kurtis shrugged, and Marie smiled at her encouragingly.

“You do have a certain advantage over me, for example,” Lara said, and it was a simple, light comment. Like it should be obvious. Normal. This family's kind of normal. That she was somehow part of.

Morgau smiled. “I'd love to.”


	3. Third Time

Putai walked by the side of the snowy road, watching the white-covered fields all around. She could have told the cab driver to take her right to the gates of Lara's mansion, but she preferred to walk part of the way when the countryside stretched around as far as her eye could see. It was a unique sight, not one available in her homeland, and while she didn't enjoy the cold, she was willing to withstand it for a while to take this walk.

The weather was only starting to bother her a little bit when the familiar house with tall walls around the gardens came into view. She smiled and sped up her pace slightly.

A dark blur on her right was the last thing she saw before a weight of another body bowled her over and into the deep snow. She swung her staff immediately, but the attacker jumped up and away. Putai was on her feet in a second, feeling the wet snow clinging to her everywhere, and faced her similarly white-encrusted opponent.

“Sorry,” the 'opponent' grumbled, and only now Putai could feel the presence of the person.

“Morgau?” she asked in disbelief. “Why have you done that?” It certainly didn't seem like an accident.

Morgau raised her hand and pointed towards a boulder a few meters away. “Perimeter sensors,” she hissed.

“Perimeter sensors?” Putai repeated, suddenly worried. “For what? Who put it there? Is someone attacking Lara's home?”

Morgau's frown cleared with some surprise, then was replaced by a thoughtful look. “I guess it'd be useful for that too… But no,” she huffed and crossed her arms, “Zip put them around here on Winston's request, he's been adding them and changing their position the whole year.”

“Winston?” Putai wasn't any closer to understanding the situation.

“Oh yes,” Morgau paced back and forth, frown firmly back in place. “So he would know when someone is coming,” she said in a tone that should be describing a nefarious scheme, “so he is ready for them, so a freshly-boiled cup of tea is waiting for them just as they arrive...”

“That… does sound quite wonderful just about now,” Putai said, brushing as much of the snow covering her as possible.

“That does _not_!” Morgau whirled towards her. “It means he _knows_ about you. Will you really let him win?!”

“I'm afraid that is merely your problem,” Putai shook her head. “I assume the changes and additions were also due to you avoiding their notice.”

“Of course they were,” Morgau confirmed with a small satisfied smile. Then she grew serious again. “Come on, I'll show you a safe passage.”

“That is really not-” Putai started saying, but at the excited gleam in Morgau's eyes, she relented with a sigh and followed the girl through the thick cover of snow.

It took much longer that the distance would promise, and also rendered Putai's clothes much wetter than she had hoped for, but finally they had arrived at the house.

“And Winston has no idea you are here,” Morgau announced victoriously and opened the front door, inviting Putai in.

“Well worth the effort,” Putai commented deadpan, stomping to get the snow off her boots.

“You're welcome,” Morgau grinned and disappeared up the stairs.

Putai shook her head. It was good to see that the troubled girl was in such a good mood, and wondered if that was why Winston had gotten the idea for such sensors at all, or if it was simply his attempt to be as effective in greeting visitors as possible. Either option was likely, or maybe a combination of both. Putai shrugged off her cloak, leaving it on a hanger, and made her way to the kitchen where Winston would most probably be.

And he was, but not alone – there was little Rosa on a blanket with several pillows and toys, turning her head this and that way to follow Winston shuffling around the kitchen. He was currently carrying several bags of flour towards the counter, talking to – presumably – Rosa.

“-there can never be too much sweets for Christmas, which I am sure you will appreciate in the years to come, Rosie. I seem to be falling behind slightly this year, this time a year ago I was already-”

Putai chuckled, and not quietly enough it seemed, as both occupants of the kitchen switched their focus on her immediately.

“Good afternoon, Winston, I hope I'm not interrupting,” Putai greeted.

“Miss Putai!” Winston exclaimed, almost panicked. “I have not noticed your arrival. Please, come, come, sit. How was your journey? Would you like some tea?”

“Thank you, Winston, I would love to.” Putai stepped into the kitchen. “As for my... travel here, Morgau seemed quite insistent on showing me an _alternate_ route towards the house.”

Winston grumbled. “Oh, of course she did.”

Putai let out a small laugh. “I apologize for appearing unexpectedly, you do not need to rush, truly.”

Winston only frowned little, as if not having tea hot and ready when a guest arrives was the heigh of incompetence for someone of his calibre, and Putai admitted to herself that convincing him otherwise might be a lost cause. “Would you like me to help?”

“Oh, absolutely not,” Winston shook his head, busying himself by the stove, “please just rest, you have only just arrived.”

“Very well then,” Putai nodded. His hospitality was his pride, as Putai had learned two years ago. Offering to help him was just politeness, she knew that insisting would only make it seem to him like she doubted his competence.

For now, she turned her eyes to Rosa. She had not seen her in person yet, and she wondered if it was rude in any way to meet the child without her parents to properly introduce them, but she could hardly ignore the little girl either. The little girl, who had spent the last minute watching her with keen interest.

Putai came closer and lowered herself into a crouch. “Hello, Rosa, it is good to meet you. I am Putai.”

Rosa made an open-mouthed humming noise, then smiled a toothless smile and let out a short, loud squeal, jerking both her arms up and down excitedly. Then she stilled, one hand coming towards Putai's skirts. Putai was a little too far for Rosa to reach, and she wondered if it was just the fabric she was interested in, or maybe the bits of snow still stuck to the hem of it. Anything new was probably interesting to a small baby.

Rosa made another squeal, leaning forward a bit, and was it just Putai's imagination or did her skirt flutter slightly towards Rosa, as if in answer? Considering Kurtis' powers… could it be? Putai was about to ask Winston, when the hem of her skirt actually flew into Rosa's hand, who grabbed a handful of the melting snow, and another loud squeal followed. The snow melted in the tiny hand immediately, and Putai watched the girl in fascination. Such a small child… it was almost unbelievable.

Rosa suddenly started to look unhappy. Maybe because the snow had melted, or maybe because it left behind cold water trickling down her palm.

Putai looked around if there was a towel somewhere, she didn't exactly want to use her damp, slightly dirty travel clothes. She turned her back to Rosa, and in next moment heard a dull thump. Whirling back, there was a torn – or busted – bag of flour next to Rosa, and she was waving her hands through the flour, still settling from the air.

Winston stopped what he was doing to shuffle closer. “Has anything happened?”

“I think Rosa just brought down a bag of flour. Are her powers developing so early?”

“Ah, yes, the little lady is quite talented,” Winston nodded, looking at the mess.

“Is there a dustpan anywhere-” Putai started but Winston was already shaking his head.

“Do not worry yourself, Putai, I will take care of it. Your tea is almost ready, please come sit. Rosie will hopefully be busy enough for a minute, smearing the flour on the floor.” Winston didn't look happy at the prospect, but it sounded safe enough, as long as she wouldn't manage to swallow a handful and choke, somehow.

Putai moved away, only just turned her gaze from the tiny baby, when there was another thump, and another and another. But not from the child's direction. From the nearby counter, where more flour sacks laid. Or had laid. Not much was actually visible of the counter right now, what with the white dust the flour created. Dirty clothes or not, Putai grabbed the wildly laughing child and swiftly left the kitchen, Winston following her immediately. _That_ surely couldn't be healthy to breathe.

“Rosie loves the snow… very much,” Winston commented only as he closed the door to let to flour settle.

“I can see that,” Putai said, trying to hide her amusement. It looked like quite a lot of waste, not to mention how much cleaning that would require. “I understand the kitchen is your responsibility, but me and, I'm sure, others, would be happy to help cleaning that up,” Putai offered as she dusted off Rosa's clothes.

Winston looked like he would argue again, but then just sighed. “I think that would be appreciated.” Then he turned towards the dining room. “But that is for when the flour settles. Now, please, have your tea, while I make Rosie more presentable.”

With surprise that Putai really should have not felt by now, she noticed that Winston was holding a tray with a steaming teapot, a teacup and a plate of biscuits, which he had somehow had time to take during their escape.

“Thank you, Winston,” Putai smiled widely.

As Winston laid everything on the dining table, Putai still holding Rosa, she remembered to ask: “Do you imagine it was a lot of damage? Will it cause much trouble in your work, even after we clean everything?”

“Ah,” Winston, paused for the tiniest moment, “All the flour was for Christmas biscuits, I have only made about half of what was my plan this year. With this accident, I suppose I am now significantly behind schedule. Purchasing the flour will take some time, as it was not the kind ordinarily available in shops, and the state of the kitchen prevents me from baking anything even if I did have the ingredients...” Winston trailed off. “But not to worry, Miss Putai, you are a guest, you only worry about being comfortable here,” he patted her hand and then took Rosa into his arms.

Calm as he did his best to appear, the waves of stress were almost wafting off of him. And Putai was well aware from previous years how much preparations there were for this highly anticipated holiday, and how much of them Winston took upon himself. Being behind schedule was in this case probably much more serious than Winston made it sound. But Putai only nodded and watched Winston leave with the baby in his arms, while she sipped the excellent tea, thinking.

After finishing the tea and biscuits, she went in search of Morgau. She found her with Kurtis, reading some old scrolls, which was just as well.

“Oh hey Putai!” Kurtis grinned. “Morgau said you're already here.” Then he looked her over. “Is that… snow? 'Cause it doesn't really… look...” he cocked his head to the side, as if that angle would somehow help him identify the remaining white splotches on Putai's clothes. She just hoped there weren't floury footprints behind her.

Morgau also looked curious. “That can't be snow, Putai got that coat.” She hopped up from the armchair she had been sprawled in. “And it already melted. Wait,” she came closer. “Is that flour?”

“I'm afraid both me and Winston were distracted for a moment and couldn't watch,” Putai turned to Kurtis, “your very talented daughter.”

Kurtis' expression cleared. “Oooh yeah that makes sense. Hope she didn't make too much of a mess.”

Putai only smiled tightly at that.

“Well, crap,” Kurtis announced. “Is Rosie okay? And Winston? How's his kitchen?”

“Winston is cleaning up Rosa right now. The kitchen… has been very white last time we have seen it before we closed the door to prevent the clouds from escaping,” Putai informed him, again a bit amused. It was hard not to, despite the damages, as the floury disaster was strangely fascinating to see.

“Ugh, oh no,” Morgau let her head fall back dramatically. “Was Winston distracted because he wasn't _warned_ about your arrival beforehand?”

Putai hummed in thought before answering, and she could see Morgau cringe a little at that indirect confirmation, which caused Kurtis to shoot her a suspicious look.

“Maybe,” Putai allowed finally, “but I do think Rosa would find a moment of our inattention either way.”

“Yeah, probably,” Kurtis shrugged, then crossed his arms, his eyes still on Morgau. “What did you do?”

“I just showed Putai the way around Winston's sensors!” Morgau answered petulantly.

Kurtis snorted at this, but he was grinning. “I could've guessed. And without really giving Putai a choice?”

Morgau only rolled her eyes at that. Putai smiled at that secretly. The girl was truly more animated and honest while expressing her thoughts, it was quite a change from the year before.

“We can help clean it?” Morgau offered before Kurtis had any more comments.

“ _We?_ ” Kurtis repeated.

“That is what I told Winston, actually,” Putai nodded. “And he agreed.”

“He agreed? That's serious,” Morgau moved her weight from one foot to another.

“Yeah,” Kurtis turned to the scrolls and started rolling them up and stacking them into a neat pile. “Why do _I_ need to help though,” he complained even as he was preparing to leave the room with them. “Technically, it's Morgau's fault that Winston was distracted and couldn't watch Rosie.”

Morgau jabbed him with her elbow. “And you _made_ Rosie.”

“Oh yeah, so we ask Lara to help?” Kurtis told Morgau's retreating back and followed her out of the room.

“Isn't she taking a nap right now? How suicidal are you?” said Morgau's voice from the hallway.

Putai chuckled, shaking her head, and started walking after them.


	4. Fourth Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, guess who finally got to finishing a Christmas fic... At the beginning of summer because why not. If you're having hot weather right now, maybe it'll cool you down? :)

“Hey Jean-Yves, how's it going?” Kurtis peeked into the kitchen.

“Quite well! I was never much for baking, but I must say I am enjoying myself!” Jean-Yves answered, dusting off his hands.

“Yeah,” Kurtis stepped in, looking around curiously. “Good to know, Winston can be pretty…”

“Strict?” Jean-Yves guessed. “Ah yes, but I enjoy the precise instructions. I might try baking myself once I return home.”

“I am sorry for asking you to do this,” Lara walked in after Kurtis, Rosie in her arms. “You are a guest, after all.”

“It is no problem, really,” Jean-Yves waved his hand. “I understand you are busy with Rosie, and Winston can't do everything himself after the little accident… ruined his schedule.”

“We will have to be much more careful with Rosa,” Lara nodded.

“Well, it's no end of the world, so I think we'll make do,” Jean-Yves winked at her and then excused himself quickly as he heard Winston calling from further down to come help with something.

“I might prefer the end of the world, I generally know how to prevent _that_ ,” Lara commented when it was only the three of them.

Kurtis snorted. “Yeah I guess some tiny little Armageddon is better than stressed Winston.” They turned away from the kitchen, walking slowly towards the main hall. “What else do we need, who else is here? Winston and Jean-Yves are in the kitchen, Mom is shopping for presents, Putai and Morgau are taking care of decorating the house, Zip is… what's he doing again?”

“Installing more perimeter sensors,” Lara informed him drily.

“Riiight,” Kurtis dragged out. “Winston's probably gonna make him add so many it'll make museums jealous.”

“In my experience, it's already easier to sneak into a museum than into this house. Then again, that is a very low bar to set.”

“Missing it?”

“I can't say I have been bored,” Lara raised Rosa in her arms, giving their girl a lopsided smile, “but yes, I am missing that kind of excitement quite a bit by now. I haven't seen a tomb for over a year.”

“But-”

“From the inside. And walking past a cemetery hardly counts anyway,” Lara lamented.

Kurtis hummed. “Well I, like most normal people, don't want to see it from the inside as long as I'm alive, but I understand you have very specific needs...”

“I wouldn’t have put up with you if you didn’t,” Lara smirked at him.

Kurtis huffed out a laugh, shaking his head. Lara also had specific ways of expressing affection.

“Still, what I meant to say, yes, I’m quite missing some action,” Lara answered Kurtis’ original question.

Kurtis nodded at that. Lara has been exercising as much as she could; four months after Rosa had been born, she was getting steadily back into shape, but there wasn't much more than the gym and the assault course to test her skills.

Maybe some other pastime could be found. Kurtis tapped his chin in thought. “Think someone's stealing your trees yet? The sensors don't encompass the forest as far as I know, so we wouldn't notice.”

“That might be possible,” Lara looked interested. “And no, I'm quite sure no sensors are there, many people are simply going for a walk there, no sense being alerted to them.”

“So we could go check? Chase a few out? Even Rosie might find that fun.”

“Yes,” Lara was starting to grin. “It's been a while since I had to-”

They both stopped walking and turned at each other as both realized who was missing.

“Verdilet!”

Rosie copied them with a loud squeal that made both wince.

“How is he not here yet?” Lara frowned.

“Well, it _is_ still a little early,” Kurtis shrugged, but didn't feel so sure. In the rush the last few days to make the kitchen presentable, get all the ruined ingredients – the flour had proved quite a problem, Winston had it specially delivered from who-knows-where – and some more Christmas shopping, it was now only a week until Christmas Eve.

“Maybe we should check with Father,” Lara mused, staring absently at the thick carpet beneath their feet.

Something occurred to Kurtis. “What if he's not gonna send him here?”

“What?” Lara straightened from her pensive posture. “Why wouldn't he?”

“Well, technically,” Kurtis took Rosie and made a face at her, so that she giggled, “we're inviting Father Patrick here, not Vlad. And I mean, he doesn't need to send anyone else just because he can't come himself.”

“Yes, I suppose so,” Lara crossed her arms, “but he's been glad for having Vlad out of his hair for a little while.”

“Eh,” Kurtis grimaced, “I've finally seen the both of them together this spring, and Father Patrick was having fun bossing him around.”

“That might be so,” Lara paced back and forth, “but a little respite around Christmas time would still be surely welcome, Father is quite busy during the holidays.”

“So what, you actually gonna call him?” Kurtis sniffed Rosie's diaper in concern, but his worries came up empty.

“I have no urgent matters to take care of right now, so I might as well,” Lara turned on her heel to walk upstairs. Kurtis followed her. No urgent matters waiting for him either.

Lara grabbed the phone on her desk in the study and dialled the correct number. She only had to wait a moment. “Hello, Father.” - “Good to hear you too.” Then she glanced at Kurtis and switched to loudspeaker.

“-to call me?” Father Patrick's words sounded out loud.

“Just checking if everything's okay,” Kurtis answered this time. “Hi, by the way.”

“Good afternoon to you too, Kurtis. And unless my ears deceive me, Rosie is there as well.”

“Yep, she's right here,” Kurtis moved her close to the phone and by some luck, Rosie just managed to let out a particularly loud squeal. Then he had to grab the phone before she made it her new toy.

“Yes, I can definitely hear her now,” Father Patrick agreed a bit faintly, probably from moving his own phone away to save his ear.

“Whaaaat do I hear?” An unmistakeable voice came from the other side. Had he heard what the priest was saying, or were Rosie's squeals just _that_ loud? Or maybe the demon simply had really sensitive hearing, Kurtis had definitely met some that could hear the faintest rustle.

“Why Vlad, have you finished doing the laundry already?” Father's amused voice spoke in answer.

A growl was heard in response to that before words followed. “Yes I did your stupid laundry! Again!”

“Oh, very good. And what about-”

“The dishes? Mopping? Cleaning the windows?” Verdilet's voice was progressively nearing his growling. “Yes!”

“Ah well, I'm sure we can find something else, I wouldn't want to you to get bored...”

“I fucking hate you!” Verdilet proclaimed, rather clearly.

“Language,” Kurtis said, amused. “Maybe. I'm not sure if Rosie remembers actual words at this age...”

“We are not risking that. He will not be swearing here,” Lara murmured to Kurtis. Then she raised her eyebrow as she cocked her head. They could hear what sounded like angry stomping. And growling again, of course.

Rosa was staring at the phone in rapt fascination.

“But otherwise it looks he is quite a good entertainment,” Lara nodded, convinced. “It might divert her attention from the Christmas tree, considering her… interest in colourful lights.”

Kurtis winced. “We gotta keep an eye on her so she doesn't pull off something unexpected again.”

“I doubt that will be easy,” Lara hummed in thought.

“Ah, you have already got yourself a Christmas tree, I'm glad, I was a little worried, honestly,” Father Patrick trailed off.

Lara frowned. “Of course we don't. We need the horse, Father, we're not choosing any smaller tree than the years previous. So when is Vlad coming over?”

There was a pause, even the rustles from the other side subsided. Kurtis knew what Lara was doing, he had started to suspect the same thing she had, after all those apparently useless chores started piling up on the Russian demon.

“I was under the impression you would not want him anywhere close to your newborn daughter,” Father Patrick finally said. There was a loud, angry snort coming from his side too.

“No, actually, that was all you,” Lara answered, all wide-eyed innocence. “I have no problem with demons around, assuming they don't pose direct danger.”

“No demons pose no danger, my child,” Father Patrick sighed. There was some sound that might've been Verdilet, shuffling or stomping, but he didn't comment. Kurtis was sure he disliked the assumption that he wasn't dangerous, but also… well, either he liked being contrary to Father Patrick – no, he most certainly liked that – or he really wanted to come to Surrey. He'd clearly enjoyed chasing away the Christmas tree thieves the two previous years. After Zip had installed the cameras in the forest and showed them the recordings, Kurtis had to admit that the demon had been having fun. And it had been pretty funny to watch too.

“The world poses danger,” Lara threw back. “I am not locking Rosa into a padded room to protect her from everything.”

“Ah, I am not talking about extreme measures, and avoiding demons is hardly one.”

“Well...” Kurtis dragged out. “Considering our experience, in the… uh, our entire lives? Rosie's gonna meet more demons sooner or later. Starting with one that doesn't actively try to kill her sounds like a good idea.”

“Yes, like a weakened virus in vaccines,” Lara latched on to that.

“Hey!” Ah, that was Verdilet.

“It's true,” Lara shrugged, even though that movement was lost on the two in Ireland. “Unless you are saying that you do mean Rosa harm,” she added in a low, dangerous voice.

A moment of silence followed. Not a contemplating sort of silence exactly, Kurtis guessed it was closer to assessing danger after the sudden drop in temperature Lara caused.

“Tsk no,” Verdilet managed to sound offended, “it will bring me much amusement when she drives the priest crazy once she is more grown.”

“See, Father,” Lara said lightly, the frost in her voice gone as if it had never been there.

“I do think we should still at least wait a few years,” Father Patrick disagreed.

“Verdilet,” Lara ordered, “please tell Father Patrick a reason why you should come to my manor this Christmas, a reason that would be advantageous to him.”

Verdilet huffed, though it didn't sound half as angry as his reactions to other direct orders. “You will not have to _deal with me_ for a while,” he pronounced, certain words as if cited from something Father Patrick had said to him before.

“I hardly think this advantage balances the danger.” The words weren't even all out of Father Patrick's mouth before they were met by three groans.

“I suppose,” Lara started then, slowly, “that if Father sees so much danger in this meeting, he would feel better if he was present as well then? What do you say, Father?”

“My child, you know I don't have time leave my parish during this season.” Father Patrick tried to sound remorseful, but instead certain hints of relief were starting to shine through. Was he thinking he was going to win? Kurtis wasn't sure about Lara's tactic yet, but he doubted she was anywhere close to giving up.

“That is quite alright,” Lara dismissed the excuse, a smile creeping up on her face. It wasn't a nice smile. “We can visit you in Connussie instead.”

Now Kurtis finally caught on, letting his own grin stretch his mouth. “Oh, yeah, that sounds like an awesome idea! Hey, Father, did you know Rosie started to manifest her powers already? She messed up the Christmas lights, floated some toys, destroyed the kitchen...”

“Oh dear God,” Father Patrick's apprehensive voice was cut off by Verdilet's uproarious laughter. “That truly is a child worthy of her mother!”

“But do not worry, Father,” Lara spoke up again, “I understand why you would be worried about Vlad coming here, but these were only a few incidents and we are quite sure we can protect him from Rosa adequately.”

It took a second before the last dredges of Verdilet's laughter abruptly cut off as he registered the meaning of her words. “Heeey!!!”

Kurtis rolled his eyes at Lara for riling him up, but couldn't suppress the amused grin.

“I don't doubt that,” Father Patrick said doubtfully. “But I still think it would be a better idea if none of us made any visit to either place and-”

Silence. Only vague background noises. Clip. Clop.

Verdilet's laughter almost made them jump, bursting out even louder than before.

“Get her out!” they heard Father Patrick shout over the laughter, which gradually grew quieter as its source moved farther away.

“What just happened?” Kurtis asked when the noise died out and Father Patrick wasn't saying anything.

At the direct question, he sighed. “Vlad's horse just made her business on my floor.”

“How unfortunate,” Lara commented neutrally. “If only there was a way to remove the horse from your premises, at least for a while.”

“This doesn't usually happen,” Father argued weakly.

Kurtis was playing a tug of war with Rosa, who had a grip on his index finger. “So how did it happen now?”

“I suppose some of my other orders must have negated my order to not let the horse inside the house. Maybe airing out the room combined with cleaning the windows… I did tell him to close them, so if he didn't consider the house aired out enough, he could open the door...”

“How didn't you go crazy yet with these word games, day in – day out,” Kurtis shook his head, really not envying such a responsibility, as much as the priest took it upon himself voluntarily.

“Well,” Father Patrick started with faint amusement, “after so much practice, it's not hard anymore. I haven't had such a blunder in years.”

“Because you gave him too much orders at once, to make him seem too busy to come here,” Lara crossed her arms. Kurtis could see her patience was wearing thin, but she was holding herself together because the victory was in her reach. She didn't say anything more, and so another silence stretched for maybe ten seconds, until another sigh came through the speaker.

“Very well, I'll send him to you.”

“Thank you, Father,” Lara said sweetly, self-satisfied.

* * *

Verdilet arrived right the next day. He acted rude and dismissively when Kurtis met him at the gate, but Kurtis liked to imagine the demon was happy to be back here.

“Did you let your horse in the house on purpose? To convince Father Patrick to send you here?” Kurtis was too curious not to ask.

Verdilet glared at him askance, probably assessing if Kurtis would run to tattle any such confessions to the priest, and then started walking leisurely along the driveway, leading his horse by the reins. As he was passing Kurtis, he announced almost in wonder:

“Iiiii can't believe that shit worked.”

Kurtis sputtered a surprised laugh at the modern slang, then blinked as he realized that terrible, terrible pun and started laughing even harder.


	5. Fifth Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To be fair to Rosie here, this one wasn't only her fault...

Verdilet's first meeting with Rosie was rather uneventful, which in Marie's book was the best possible outcome. She might not have been as worried as Father Patrick – at least from what Kurtis had told her about the phone call – but she had had certain doubts about the overall safety of such a decision.

Probably because of the lack of worries of Lara and Kurtis, if she was being honest with herself.

Last year, when it was Lara in her early pregnancy meeting Verdilet, Kurtis had been worried enough for ten people. Now that he was more comfortable with the whole idea of fatherhood, Marie felt as if the responsibility of being worried fell to her as the grandmother. She wasn't especially happy about that, as she rather enjoyed a more relaxed life the past few years, and she definitely wasn't as worried as she had been during Kurtis' infancy, when they had been continuously hunted down by the Cabal… but, well, she was slightly worried for Rosie all the same. Demons, even as tame as Verdilet, could never be one hundred percent safe.

But Lara was correct, of course, Rosie couldn't be held in perfectly safe environment, that was simply impossible.

So yes, the actual meeting was uneventful and therefore as good as it could have been. Verdilet stared at her with badly hidden wariness and only slightly better hidden curiosity, while Rosie, lying in Lara's arms, made a few happy loud noises, waved her arms sharply a few times, and lost interest. Verdilet had lost interest too, if not the wariness, and exclaimed that she would need to grow up more before she could exude the horror her mother could.

Lara had accepted that with a grin and then sent him for the Christmas tree along with Kurtis, who had known which one Lara had picked.

Which was how they all ended up once again with a main hall full of tree. Verdilet was off chasing thieves once again, but the rest of them, even Winston who took a rare break from the kitchen, were doing their part in erecting the tree in its stand.

Yes, commenting counted as contributing, as per Zip's words.

“I dunno, it doesn't look totally vertical, you know,” the hacker was saying, walking around, almost far enough not to get hit by the tree if it fell – almost.

“Can you be a little more specific?” Lara asked in an even tone. They had been slightly moving the tree for the past ten minutes.

Morgau walked towards the boxes with Christmas ornaments, picked one large bauble and tied a very long garland to it. Then she levitated the bauble-less end high up next to the tree, so that the bauble was hanging freely above the floor.

“A plumb-bob?” Kurtis raised his eyebrows.

Morgau shrugged. “It works well enough, right?”

“Hey, and my comments didn’t?” Zip crossed his arms. He got some sceptical stares and finally Lara spoke up:

“Do you want an honest answer to that?”

Zip opened his mouth, the closed it and pouted. “Damn rude, ya know.”

“I would be if I actually gave you the answer,” Lara informed him drily and then focused back on the tree, now with a more objective measure of its verticality available.

Rosie cooed in Marie’s arms, fascinated by the makeshift plumb-bob. Understandable – with the decorations still mostly in the boxes, this was the most sparkly, colourful object around. Marie stepped further away and then to the other side of the tree than where Morgau was, so that Rosie lost sight of it. She started grumbling immediately, of course. Marie opened the nearest box to check for anything non-breakable and not dangerous but similarly interesting and Rosie was happy to watch her for now.

“Let’s leave it at that?” Kurtis asked a couple minutes later.

“Yes, this should work,” Lara agreed.

Marie looked down at Rosie who was waving a green plastic bauble around – one from a set that was bought with accidents in mind. Not specifically for Rosie, just generally in case of falls. Or explosions. Although now Marie was starting to think they should’ve researched what dangers could Christmas specifically bring to small kids. Especially to one who can float small objects in her vicinity into her hand. But who could’ve expected that she would start so soon? Live and learn. If Kurtis and Lara ever decided to have another baby…

The current baby swished her hand and the bauble crashed on the carpet. Undamaged. Marie glanced at the tree that was already sporting several decorations and more and more were being added every few seconds by several pairs of hands. She was sitting with Rosie with their backs to the tree so the little girl wasn’t tempted to pull at anything, but how long could she keep at it? And the tree would be standing here for a few weeks!

Maybe they should’ve decorated the tree strictly with unbreakable decorations this year. Marie contemplated telling them so, but they would need to go shopping for them and everyone was already here in the middle of decorating… Marie didn’t think she could ruin their fun like that. They just wouldn’t let Rosie around the tree for long, and only under strict supervision. She was being watched more than ever after the flour incident anyway.

“Mom, wanna help with the higher places?” Kurtis called.

“I’d love to,” Marie answered, still not turning around. “Who wants to hold Rosie?”

“Not it!” Zip shouted. Marie couldn’t help an amused snort. She wouldn’t force him, of course. Giving a baby to someone who wasn’t comfortable holding one was a recipe for disaster, and they didn’t need any more potential disasters at hand.

She still couldn’t see the others, but after a few words thrown here and there, Jean-Yves approached her. “It seems I’ll have the honour this time.”

“Just don’t let her look at the tree, I’m afraid it could be too interesting for her,” Marie warned.

“Ah, yes,” Jean-Yves agreed. “Maybe I should take to another room for now?”

“Good idea.”

Jean-Yves turned to walk away, Rosie in his arms, but he wasn’t careful enough. Marie was watching, and she knew the exact moment it was too late. She was herself too far away to block the view of the tree with just her body, and Rosie’s head turned just enough to notice the sparkling ornaments, probably nothing more than a colourful blur in her eyes.

She _squealed_.

Marie heard Lara’s steps, Rosie’s excited noises were unmistakeable and it was quite easy to guess the reason.

“Jean, run!” Lara ordered. Jean-Yves scampered away as fast as he could.

But it was too late, they knew. Rosie’s squeals heard from another room turned from excited to unhappy and there were clear beginnings of whimpers.

“Dammit,” Lara murmured and followed the noise.

With her hands free, Marie turned to help with the decorating and the others followed her, continuing with her work. Jean-Yves joined them a minute later.

“Even when the world was ending I didn’t need to run like this,” he commented, still a little wide-eyed. Putai patted his shoulder in consolation.

In about ten minutes, Lara passed by silently, with sleeping Rosie in her arms, and everyone immediately stilled to not disturb the sleeping baby while Lara carried her to the nursery.

The decorating went without a hitch after that and soon only the tree-topper was left.

Putai held the large silver start made of blown glass, turning it around. “Why exactly a star? I assume it holds some sort of significance.”

“There are other options,” Jean-Yves said, enjoying something he felt sure in – explaining history. It represents the Star of Bethlehem. I am not sure how familiar you are with the birth of Christ...”

“Ah, yes, I know the story,” Putai nodded. “I see. And what are the other options?”

“Well, another common one is a finial, you can imagine it as a sort of small spire, slim or with some bulbous parts. I don’t think there is much meaning in it for a Christmas tree. I suppose another common one would would be a small model of an angel-”

“Oh that sounds interesting,” Morgau jumped in.

“Does it?” Kurtis asked carefully.

“Sure,” she shrugged, “with some customization...”

Kurtis started grinning. “Three tiny Shards sticking out of it?”

“It’s like you read my mind,” Morgau grinned back.

“Been too long since anything creepy happened, huh,” Zip commented.

“We can live without creepy,” Kurtis crossed his arms, but then cocked his head in contemplation. “Though a stabbed angel as a tree-topper probably would be a little too much.”

“Too much _perfection_ ,” Morgau threw back, without any actual argument in her tone. She was having fun – a little creepy fun, as Zip had pointed out, but fun nevertheless, which was still a new enough sight for Marie that she enjoyed every second.

“Ugh, let’s just put it up there,” Zip nearly pleaded and Morgau chuckled.

“We do need to wait for Lara,” Winston spoke up, “we cannot finish without her.”

“Oh right, she’s still with Rosie,” Kurtis looked around as if he only now noticed her absence. “I’ll go check if everything’s okay.”

He jogged up the stairs without a moment to spare, but he was soon back, alone. “Yeah okay so, both are asleep.”

“We shall finish when Lara wakes up then,” Putai set down the star.

“Yeah, wouldn’t try to wake her up unless the whole house is on fire,” Zip cringed.

“No no no,” Kurtis held up his hands, “don’t jinx it. Don’t even mention it.”

“It does suddenly make me worry,” Jean-Yves admitted.

“Ugh,” Zip threw his head back, “fine, if we’re done here for now, I’m gonna check the circuitry in the whole place, you guys are making nervous.”

“I will return to my baking,” Winston started shuffling off.

“Make sure there’s no stove left on!” Zip called after him and then ran away when several glares turned his way.

Marie shook her head and went to finish wrapping up presents.

A few hours later, Morgau skidded into the living room where Marie was sitting. “Lara is awake.”

“Thank you Morgau,” Marie got up, “let’s finish up the tree then.”

Morgau didn’t wait and jumped backwards, out of the room and over the railing, all the way down into the main hall. For a moment Marie was tempted to do the same, but her powers were more limited and so it carried greater risk to perform such stunts. Marie wondered if she should visit the assault course later. Snowy and slippery, it provided an added challenge in winter months.

When she arrived in the hallway, not everyone was there yet. Zip, Winston and Kurtis were nowhere to be seen and Morgau was running away again, presumably to find the three.

“Lara,” Marie smiled. “I hope you had a good rest.”

“Yes, thank you,” Lara stretched her arms above her head. “I needed that.”

Winston arrived a few minutes later.

Zip and Kurtis were still missing. Morgau – ah, Morgau was just returning. “Zip and Kurtis are doing something with the fuses,” she informed them. “Zip said he wanted to replace some older parts of the circuits and dragged Kurtis into it.” She rolled her eyes. “Looks like they’ll be at it for a while.”

Everyone else shared looks.

“I’m afraid I don’t have much time to spare,” Winston glanced the way the kitchen was. “Could you please inform me again when everyone is available?”

“Yes, we can finish up later,” Lara agreed easily.

As the rest of them dispersed, Marie couldn’t help having a bad feeling about this.

* * *

“Okay, we’re here now,” Kurtis announced.

Marie looked at her son and at Zip, then sipped at the tea she was carrying to her room to drink before going to bed. “I’m afraid Jean-Yves is already asleep. So is probably Putai, for that matter.”

“It ain’t that late, right?” Zip stuck one hand into his pocket, then drew it out in confusion, holding a coiled piece of wire, before he put it back with a shrug.

Marie could admit the darkness outside wouldn’t help telling time very much, considering how early the sun set at this time of the year, but it could still be indicative of something. “It’s late enough, for some. We will have to wait until tomorrow.”

* * *

“It’s tomorrow,” Kurtis said after breakfast. “So let’s get this over with?”

“Jean-Yves and Putai already left,” Lara informed him, finishing the last of her tea. “They had some sight-seeing plans for today.”

“Ah, that might explain their early retirement to bed yesterday,” Marie smiled.

Lara hummed. “Most probably. They said not to expect them back in time for dinner.”

“So, tomorrow?” Kurtis asked with a lopsided smile.

* * *

They were halfway through breakfast, when Verdilet marched into the kitchen. “Heeey let me kill someone!”

“No,” Lara said, took another bite of her toast, chewed slowly and swallowed. “Why?”

“Some damn brats figured out I can’t hurt them. Theyyy’re annoying!”

“That would put a damper on any enjoyment,” Lara agreed and sipped her tea.

“Aaand they’re breaking smaller trees for fun,” Verdilet added.

Lara was halfway out of the door, pistols in hands.

As it turned out, not even Lara went as far as actually killing the vandals, getting just far enough as to scare them significantly, putting the fear into their hearts where Verdilet could not. Per his words, watching it was hilarious.

Rosie felt too neglected with her mother gone all morning though, and by the time Lara had some time to spare, Jean-Yves was gone Christmas shopping, having apparently gotten an excellent idea for some present.

Somehow, they have never gotten a minute to gather at the Christmas tree.

* * *

As Winston was busy in the morning with baking something that could not wait any longer, Marie decided to follow up on her idea from a few days ago and have some fun on the assault course.

Maybe… maybe she let herself grow a little careless in the last few years, peaceful as they were, she thought as she woke up lying in a deep cover of snow with several people standing above her.

She was quite sure she had a concussion.

She was also possibly bleeding.

Next time she woke up, she was in an ambulance. Kurtis explained, once she was lying on a hospital bed, her wound thoroughly examined and treated, that he preferred giving her an actual medical attention when the option was there. Marie understood, Kurtis was never exceptionally strong in the healing arts, Morgau even less so from what they have seen so far. And actual hospital was a luxury not often available for most of their lives.

It still didn’t make anyone happy when the doctor announced they were going to keep Marie in the hospital overnight for observation.

* * *

“I could make timetables for everyone, so we know exactly when we all have time,” Zip offered at a late breakfast, postponed so that Marie could join them after returning from the hospital. “I’d tag events by urgency and if most people were free and the rest had only low-urgency plans, they’d have to give them up for greater good...”

“As impressive as that sounds, I’m afraid most of these events weren’t planned,” Winston set a cup of coffee in front of Kurtis before seating themselves. It must’ve been Kurtis’ turn to tend to Rosie during the night, and a tough one, if Winston was willingly making coffee for him. Kurtis did look quite… tired.

“Well then I got no idea!” Zip threw up his hands.

Kurtis gulped up the whole cup at once, put it down on the table with a bit more force that strictly necessary, and with a manic gleam in his eyes stared at everyone, one after another. “Now.”

“What?” Morgau mumbled over a piece of toast in her mouth.

“Now, we have time now, let’s go now!” Kurtis explained quickly, as if another unexpected event could strike any moment.

Which it could.

“We are already eating late as it is,” Winston shook his head, but didn’t seem particularly against it.

“I am sure it will be fine, it is just a few minutes,” Putai reasoned.

Then a bang from the window made everyone turn heads, some already moving out of their chairs.

It was just a bird, hitting the window and now sitting dazedly on the window sill. A false alarm.

There was a moment of silence.

Everyone stood up at once and made their way to the main hall.

“Okay, let’s do it, everyone’s here and _anything_ can happen at _any time_ ,” Kurtis repeated and Jean-Yves helpfully retrieved the tree-topper from one of the boxes.

“Wait, not all of us are here,” Zip spoke up suddenly and Marie felt her stomach drop. Who? She was honestly so ready to get this over with.

Zip took a step back when so many sharp stares turned to him, asking the unspoken question.

“Uh, Vlad? I mean, if all of us are supposed to be here, then-”

“He wasn’t here for the rest of decorating either,” Lara interrupted him, almost in a hurry.

And as no-one else was disputing Lara’s reasoning for the next second, Marie nodded, moved the star with her telekinesis and floated it up, setting it carefully on the top of the tree.

There was another moment of silence, which then stretched for almost a minute.

“Hurray,” Morgau pronounced in a perfectly neutral tone.

“Yay,” Zip added weakly.

“It is done, and that is what matters. We don’t have to stress over it anymore,” Putai said.

Rosie’s cries floated from upstairs.

“And not a moment too soon,” Lara told Putai and made her way to the stairs.

Of course, the rest of the day was quiet and peaceful, with everyone having plenty of time to spare.


	6. Plus One Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How will Rosie finally manage to have some positive influence on the Christmas preparations?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly this chapter could have been shorter, but watching these characters chat about random stuff was too much fun - and that's also what they should be having: fun. And hopefully you too ;)

“It’s weird that nothing’s actually happened all day,” Morgau said and got hit in the head by a cushion.

“Now _you_ are jinxing us?” Kurtis asked, hands ready in case Morgau threw the cushion back at him.

Which she did, and much harder than him. “I’m not including any specifics, just wondering. Besides, I don’t believe in jinxing. Most of the shit in my life didn’t need me to worry about it first.”

Kurtis raised the cushion he’d caught above his head so he could look at her. “So what, you’re not superstitious at all?”

“I’m not planning my day around a black cat crossing my path,” Morgau said derisively.

“Well me neither,” Kurtis threw the cushion at her again, more softly this time, playfully, “but saying something might make things feel kinda more real.”

“I never had that feeling,” Morgau passed the cushion back at an arc, “unless you mean the Lux Veritatis chants, those words can have some real-life effect.”

Kurtis threw the cushion. “Yeah not exactly what I meant. I mean like, normal words, just because of their meaning.”

“Kurtis, I’m pregnant again,” Lara said from another couch and the cushion flying back at him hit him square in the face, frozen in shock as he was.

Lara watched him as he shook himself off in a few seconds and jumped to his feet. “What?! How? When?”

Morgau was watching her suspiciously. Lara grinned at her.

“I’m not pregnant, Kurtis, I was just showing the effect of _normal_ words.”

Kurtis stared another few seconds before he fell on the couch, boneless. “I almost got a heart attack,” he mumbled weakly.

Morgau laughed out loud. “Watch out, Kurtis, don’t jinx it.”

Laughing, she didn’t have time to stop the cushion flying straight into her face.

“Ah, I see you’re having fun,” Jean-Yves commented, walking into the room. Putai entered after him, Rosa in her arms.

“Wanna join in?” Morgau threw the cushion at him, carefully, and Jean-Yves fumbled to catch it.

“Maybe later,” he set the cushion on the couch next to Kurtis. “I’m only looking for something to read.”

“May I offer you some children’s books,” Kurtis said with an awful English accent and held up a colourful book with a frog and a bunny on its cover, one of several that they’d started reading Rosa lately. Lara found them boring and Rosa seemed rather disinterested as well, but Kurtis insisted that four months was the best age to start reading to children – at least that was what his parenting books said.

Jean-Yves chuckled. “I’m afraid they are not my preferred genre.”

“Who doesn’t like froggies and bunnies?” Kurtis gasped, mock offended. “I mean, unless they’re food, then I’d go only with the bunnies.”

“Doesn’t that disqualify you from being French?” Marie asked, amused, as she too entered the room.

“I’m fairly sure it doesn’t,” Jean-Yves rolled his eyes, no less amused.

“Do you like frog legs?” Kurtis squinted his eyes at him.

Jean-Yves shrugged, “Well, I mean, yes-”

“That sounds disgusting,” Morgau frowned.

“Right?” Kurtis gestured to her. “Guess if I was really hungry I might eat them-”

“Yes, to save yourself from dying of hunger-” Morgau nodded.

“I like frog legs,” Lara chimed in. That cut off the discussion momentarily and Putai sat down, watching how it might continue.

Kurtis laughed. “I’m not falling for your _normal words_ again.”

Lara crossed her legs and leaned back comfortably. “I mean it.”

Kurtis eyed her suspiciously and then said, “Yeah okay if you do, we’re definitely not teaching Rosie to eat that stuff.”

“It’s just meat,” Lara rolled her eyes. “Have you ever tried it?”

“No-”

“I see.”

“Hey, I don’t have to taste it to have an opinion.”

“Like your opinion on Christmas pudding?”

“Okay that’s a low blow,” Kurtis pointed at her, “I saw what goes into it, I’ve eaten it _separately_ , it just sounds disgusting together.”

“And you’ll notice I’ve never expected you to eat it.”

“So why do you bring it up?”

“Because you’ve never even tried and I found that childish.”

“Wow is that their first fight?” Zip asked from the doorway, eyes wide.

“They’ve fought before,” Marie joined him, looking into the room.

“Yeah but,” Zip waved his hands towards them, “like this? _About_ this?”

“Isn’t it good if they only fight about silly things?” Jean-Yves asked, his search for a book clearly forgotten.

“You’re right, it is silly,” Lara said lightly, eyes on Kurtis to make it clear to him _what_ she considered silly here.

“Get off your high horse, I bet there’s food you’ve never tried and don’t want to,” Kurtis crossed his arms.

Lara smirked at his defensive posture. “Not any I know of, from local cuisine at least.”

“Ha!” Kurtis sat up victoriously. “This ain’t _my_ local cuisine though, so I can dislike whatever I want.”

“It’s your local cuisine now,” Lara reminded him, quite logically in her opinion. He had been officially living here, in her house, in England, for almost a year.

“You know what I mean,” Kurtis rolled his eyes. “Not, like, native.”

“How did this fight start?” Winston wondered quietly to Marie, carrying in a tray with tea and some biscuits.

“I wasn’t here for it,” Marie shook her head.

“I… don’t think I remember,” Lara frowned, massaging her head. She was feeling so tired all the time. She smiled gratefully at Winston and took a cup.

“Imagine if they started to argue about Christmas traditions,” Zip whispered loudly.

Lara scoffed. “Why would we? _Everyone_ eats what they want at Christmas dinner, and our traditions stay the same as they’ve always been just with me and Winston.”

“Yeah but you have a kid now,” Zip said in his normal voice. “What are you gonna tell her? Is Santa Claus bringing presents? Or whatever’s here? Uh, Father Christmas?”

“Isn’t that basically Santa anyway?” Kurtis yawned.

“No,” Lara crossed her arms.

“Uh-oh,” Zip edged slowly away.

Morgau started laughing. “Oh, I guess now we can say Zip jinxed it!”

“That doesn’t really count when we actually heard it and Lara started complicating things,” Kurtis protested.

Lara sipped her tea. “I’m not complicating anything, I’m only telling it as it is.”

“Look most of the world goes with Santa anyway nowadays,” Kurtis said tiredly.

“We have Père Noël in France, as you surely know. Not exactly the same,” Jean-Yves chimed in.

“Like Papá Noel in Spain!” Morgau chimed in.

“You’re Spanish?” Zip asked, real surprise in his voice.

“From my father’s side,” Morgau explained. “He wasn’t much for celebrating holidays, but I got a little bit out of him, probably what he remembered from his own childhood.” She walked over and also took a cup of tea.

“Okay but that’s still just a different name for Santa, right?” Kurtis persisted.

Morgau studied him for a moment, probably judging whether to stoke the flames. Lara didn’t particularly enjoy the current argument, but she also disagreed with Kurtis and refused to step down.

“No,” Morgau finally said and Lara smiled smugly.

“Ugh, fine, if you wanna complicate it, my father grew up with baby Jesus bringing presents,” Kurtis threw up his hands. “So now what?”

“Oh, that’s the same as in The Czech Republic!” Morgau leaned forward with interest. “I always saw it around Christmas time.”

“So you’re Czech? From your mom’s side?” Zip was scratching his head.

“No, we just lived there a few years, my mother was from Greenland.”

“And… you were born in Greenland?” It was practically visible on Zip’s face, trying to put all the different locations together.

“I was born in Sweden,” Morgau grinned.

Zip was silent for good five seconds. Then: “Okay I’m not asking anymore.”

“But I’m asking,” Marie said seriously. “Who’s bringing Christmas presents in Sweden?”

Kurtis groaned loudly and Lara would too, if she didn’t consider it uncouth.

“I don’t know actually,” Morgau leaned her chin on her fist, looking thoughtful. “I’ve been to many countries, especially around Europe, and it’s not like I know who brings the presents in most of them.”

“In Russia, iiiit’s Ded Moroz!” Verdilet announced as he marched into the room. “And Iiii’m bored! They must all know of me and dare not enter the forest! Cowards!”

“I am sorry to hear that,” Lara took another sip. “Do you want some tea?”

Lara felt several pairs of disbelieving eyes on her.

Verdilet glared at everyone, probably to make sure they all _knew_ how unhappy he was, and then sat down and actually took a cup. Clearly, Father Patrick was teaching him some manners.

“Okay so if it’s different in all countries, let’s just go with what’s most popular globally. Which is Santa,” Kurtis was back with his nonsense.

“Or let’s just go with what is traditional in the country Rosa is actually living in,” Lara pronounced slowly, clearly, to make Kurtis listen.

“You want to lie to your child about who brings the gifts?” Verdilet scoffed.

“Please don’t,” Putai shook her head. “I do consider it strange, but at least it’s the one thing they seem to agree on so far.”

“And you said it happens in Russia too,” Jean-Yves added.

“It’s still stupid. Iiii get it when you are poor you want to blame someone else that there are worthless presents. But you are rich!”

“Yeah but it’s like,” Zip waved his hands, “it brings some magic to the world, ya know? Cause the kids think some mysterious...” he glanced at Kurtis, “uh, someone, is bringing the presents. Parents buying them is a boring explanation.”

Verdilet was looking at Zip suspiciously, then at the others. “You want to pretend gift giving is magical? Iiiis there not enough real magic in the world?”

Lara actually paused at that and Kurtis was frowning. “Huh. I mean, good point I guess,” he mumbled.

“We can leave it as a fictional story then, not as an explanation,” Lara decided.

Kurtis perked up. “Works for me!”

“But not Santa Claus,” Lara finished.

“Oh come on!” Kurtis groaned. “If she’s not even supposed to believe it, what does it matter?”

“If it doesn’t matter, why do you insist so much?” Lara responded calmly.

“Okay so it kinda matters. Still though, she’s gonna see Santa on TV and stuff, it’s just international by now.”

“She will see other things from other cultures, it doesn’t mean she needs to-” Lara was interrupted by the unmistakeable sound of the beginning of crying.

Putai was rocking Rosa, trying to hush her, but the little girl was clearly agitated.

Lara sighed, set down her cup and walked over to take the baby from Putai. She was watching the tiny crying face as she was rocking her, and glanced up at Kurtis, who was watching Rosa too, and who then turned his gaze to Lara so their eyes met. They reached an understanding.

Luckily, the cries subsided after not too long, and in the newfound silence, Lara said quietly: “I think we will leave this argument for now.”

“Yeah,” Kurtis smiled.

“Aww,” Zip cooed, “you realized that making Rosie happy is more important than arguing!”

Lara raised both eyebrows, quietly amused, and Kurtis returned the look before he explained to Zip:

“No, we realized she’s too young to care about it this time, so we can postpone the argument for next year.”

“Seriously?” Marie inquired, with some exasperation leaking through.

“Yes,” Lara answered simply.

Some looks passing over her and Kurtis were now disbelieving, but a few were definitely amused.

“I wonder if the arguing will be even worse once you get back to it,” Morgau mused.

“Don’t-” Zip started.

“Jinx it?” Morgau smiled.

“She doesn’t believe in jinxing,” Kurtis explained to Zip, who haven’t seen the previous conversation.

“Just as I don’t believe Christmas presents are brought by a magical being,” Morgau grinned.

“Miss Morgau,” Winston pleaded.

“Sorry,” Morgau’s grin turned sheepish, seemingly genuinely contrite. Winston had that effect on people.

“I don’t think it’s jinxing if you push the people into it,” Marie reasoned.

“Are we discussing the definition of jinxing now?” Lara asked, sitting down on her spot again, Rosa cradled carefully in her arms.

“You know, why not,” Morgau was quite eager now. “How would that even work if it’s only about bad things?” She pointed at Zip, who had just taken a bite out of a biscuit. “Let’s say a squirrel might run in and steal Zip’s biscuit.” She ignored Zip’s gasp as he clutched the biscuit. “So does the probability increase with me saying it because it’s bad for Zip, or does it not increase at all, because it’s good for the squirrel?”

“Maybe it depends on what the speaker considers good or bad,” Putai offered.

“Hmm...” Morgau twisted her lips. “I think it would be funny, so I guess I couldn’t jinx it even if I though it worked.”

“Leave my biscuit alone, okay,” Zip said defensively and then quickly ate the rest.

“That sounds like in Zip’s eyes, you jinxed it anyway,” Lara said.

“So you can jinx something even if only one person who hears it considers it bad, even if the rest would think it’s good?” Morgau pushed on.

Marie laughed.

“What?” Morgau frowned.

“Nothing, nothing,” Marie shook her head. “It’s actually quite an interesting discussion. Certainly better than the previous one.” She tapped her lip in thought. “I suppose that does sound right, if even only one person hears something that would be bad for them, they’d probably call it jinxing.”

“And would the jinxing power increase with the number of people who consider it bad?” Morgau took a biscuit herself and chewed it slowly while Zip glared at her, clearly hesitant to take another.

“You mean if I said that Vlad might start singing Christmas carols,” Kurtis started and now Verdilet’s glare was on him, “the probability would be higher the more people would think he sings horribly?”

“I have never heard Mr Kaleta sing,” Winston finally joined in, “so how would I know?”

“Right, does it work even if you don’t _know_ if it would be bad for you?” Morgau caught on to that.

“Uh, maybe?” Jean-Yves was massaging his head now.

Putai chuckled. “Well done, Morgau, I think everyone has gotten the idea that jinxing seems to be rather… ill-conceived? Is that what you would say?”

“Quite,” Lara smiled.

“Myyy singing is great!” Verdilet announced, offended.

“Oh?” Marie leaned in with interest.

Lara felt Rosa squirming in her arms and when she looked down, the little girl was looking back at her, calmly, curiously. Then she cooed and started looking around.

“We might find out then,” Lara decided. “As Rosa is awake, we don’t have to worry about waking her up. Does anyone want to sing a few carols?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're reading this around Christmas time: Merry Christmas, or happy holidays, whichever kind of holidays you celebrate, or at least happy few free days, if you don't celebrate any!  
> If you're reading this at any other time, I hope the holiday shenanigans entertained you anyway!
> 
> And yes, I already have an idea for Year Four... Let's see if I actually post it all on time, when the time comes. :D


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